Vastly different from last year’s NCAA winning squad, the Cal men’s swimming team lost some of its veteran seniors, but somehow the expectations for a three-peat have only increased.
Last spring, swim coaches around the nation ranked the Bears’ fourth in their power rankings. This year, the players are the ones with the targets on their back, ranking first in this year’s edition.
But Cal will be feeling the loss of some key members from last year’s squad.
The team lost four seniors from the championship squad, including Martin Liivamagi. Liivamagi is the school record-holder in the 200 and 400 IM and was a key player in the Bears winning the 2010 and 2011 NCAA championships.
But the Bears maintain most of their top talents, including their stellar sprint relay quartet of Shayne Fleming, Fabio Gimondi, Tom Shields and Seth Stubblefield. All but Fleming were part of last year’s national champion relay team.
Cal also bolstered its roster with twelve new members in the fall who composed the second-best recruiting class in the nation.
And perhaps most importantly, the Bears have a committed group of veterans invested in not just their own individual success but the team’s as well.
The new leaders on the team are not necessarily the highest scorers nor the fastest swimmers. Seniors Ben Hinshaw, Nick Trowbridge and Trevor Hoyt serve as player-coaches for the team and do more than just swim fast.
They keep the team organized during practice and encourage the younger players to integrate themselves into the team culture.
In a way to foster a family-like environment that defines the program, the team traditionally trains in Colorado Springs during winter break. This winter break, all the players lived, ate and trained together every day without the company of their real families.
“I don’t solely put success on performance but on smiles I see and the memories we create,” senior Tom Shields said. “If we created a right family attitude and we each get better individually, success is inevitable.”
Individually, the Bears will rely once again on Shields, sophomore Will Hamilton and junior Marcin Tarczynski to carry the team to their three-peat aspirations.
The three swimmers spent their fall and winter training for the NCAAs. Shields, who did not compete with Cal during the fall, went to Istanbul last December to swim in the FINA World Cup to challenge himself against world-class talent.
The experience Shields acquired from the World Cup paid immediate dividends in the first meet back from winter break against No. 1 Arizona. Shields led the Bears to victory by winning both the 100 and 200 fly.
The Bears will continue their rigorous training and preparations for the next eight weeks until NCAAs. They will be facing top-tier teams USC, Arizona and Stanford twice each in both dual meets and the Pac-12 championships.
Arizona and USC, alongside No. 1 Michigan, will be the toughest challenges to Cal when the four teams converge at Indianapolis, Ind., for NCAAs in late March.
One unique aspect of the swimming program is that the team takes dual meets and the Pac-12 championship as training opportunities rather than competitions of utmost importance.
For the Bears, the main act does not start until NCAAs. Then, the curtains open and for the first time they will be rested and ready to race for another Championship.
“In the spring, we will use the dual meets to see where we are and up to that mind we maintain a high level of focus,” Shields said. “Then, at last NCAA, we sort of break our rhythm, and we finally start counting our points.”
Hunter He covers men’s swim. Contact him at [email protected]